This invention relates to exercise apparatus, and more particularly to a handle bar adapted for connection to a cable linked to weights for performing exercises such as strengthening, trimming, and/or toning muscles.
Physical fitness and exercise are increasingly important to a large segment of the population. With advances in medical science, which have increased the average human life expectancy, there is a natural interest in improving the quality and enjoyment of life during this increased lifespan. Thus, an increasing number of people employ exercise to improve their appearance, health and sense of well-being.
In the exercise field, it is well known that to maintain the growth of muscles, it is desirable to change the training regimen occasionally, e.g. by changing the angle, number of repetitions and different exercises. In the past, to change the angle of handles being used during exercise, it has been necessary to replace the handle attached to the exercise machine thus interrupting the process of exercising. The time required to make the change prolongs the duration of the period that the athlete is deprived of the benefit of tension on the muscle which should be as short as possible according to experts in the exercise field.
The tricep brachii (three-headed) muscle, located in the back of the upper arm, has three heads, which are the long, the lateral and the medial heads. The long head in the tricep muscle which extends down the inside of the arm along the humerus (the upper arm bone) is the largest and longest one of the heads. The medial tricep muscle head, which is smaller, is located in the center of the tricep muscle. The lateral head is located on the outward facing side of the humerus. The lateral head displays a horseshoe shape when tricep muscles are well developed.
To build the tricep muscle, an athlete can hook an exercise bar to a link at the top of a standard lat machine whereby a weight stack supplies resistance from an interconnecting cable system. This allows the athlete to perform a push-down exercise where the exercise bar is pushed down from above the head or eyes of the athlete toward the floor. In the past, exercise stations have included exercise bars with hand grips linked by pulleys to lift one or more weights in a weight stack to use a pull-up motion to lift the weights or to use a push-down motion to lift the weights. In other words, in either case the weights in the weight stack are lifted by applying a force to the exercise bar. Different exercise bar designs have been employed such as the press-down bar and the pull-up bar which are employed to exercise different muscle groups of the body. A typical tricep press-down exercise bar includes a flat plate at the top with a hole for connection to a spring snap hook and two handles reaching down from the flat plate at an angle of 45 degrees with rubber hand grips.
Tricep push-downs are an isolation exercise for the triceps which is the muscle along the back of the arm. The exercise is done using a high pulley or pull-down machine. This is one of the most common and easy to learn tricep exercises. To perform a tricep push-down exercise, first one stands facing a high pulley with a short push-down bar. Then one grips the bar with a palms-down, less than shoulder width grip. Start with the bar at about chin level. Let the bar up. Let the upper arms angle up again until the bar is at chin level. Repeat. Keep your lower back slightly arched tight and the chest out. At the bottom of the movement, one should try to push the bar straight down towards the floor as though trying to push the body upwardly. This will increase the contraction.
There are exercises to strengthen the latisimus dorsi (hereinafter lats) which are the broad flat muscles on either side of the back using a lat machine. A lat pull-down exercise bar is totally horizontal or horizontal from the center and angled downwardly on the distal portions of the bar to permit holding the bar at two different orientations. The pull-down exercise is performed using a cable pull-down weight machine, while seated by pulling down with the hands on a wide bar towards the upper chest or behind the neck. This exercise involves the biceps, forearms, and the rear deltoids.